The Oculus Rift has been our pick for best VR headset for a while now, offering a complete VR experience at a more attractive price than the high-end Vive Pro or the just-announced Valve Index. Now three years after its original launch, Oculus is retiring the classic Rift headset, replacing it with the new Oculus Rift S, which will launch on May 21, Oculus announced today.
The Rift S is meant to be an upgrade and improvement over the classic Rift, despite launching at the same $399 price point. The new headset's two main upgrades are in the display and tracking system.
The Rift S features an upgraded 2560x1440 (1280x1440 per eye) display, an improvement from the Rift's 1080x1200 per eye. We're still working on our full review of the Rift S, but Wes's impressions from last month called it "immediately obvious that this is a much clearer display." As for tracking, the Rift S uses an inside-out tracking system similar to the lower-power but wire-free Oculus Quest. It has sensors built into the headset that tracks both the head unit and the controllers without the need for base-station sensors.
Both the Rift S, as well as the aforementioned Oculus Quest, are set to launch on May 21, and pre-orders are available now. We'll be assessing the Rift S in the coming days, and will have a full review soon.
